Fiery Reunion
by Kahva
Summary: Written for a Monday Maim challenge on the Yahoo SOSF fan group. Mike is looking forward to a long overdue lunch with both Steve and Dan, but one man's carelessness spoils their reunion.


Fiery Reunion

By

Kahva

**_Disclaimer:_**_ I don't own anybody or anything with The Streets of San Francisco. I'll only lay claim to my own craziness and a love of good TV. The only characters I own are the ones I have created._

**_Author's Note:_**_ This fic takes place shortly after the end of the fifth season and was written in answer to a Monday Maim challenge on the SOSF Fans Yahoo group, where the challenge was to write a fic from Mike's POV where he finds either Steve or Dan injured or in danger. I couldn't resist, I had to do a double-maim. J In my SOSF fics, this one takes place roughly four or five weeks after "No Damsel In Distress"._

Mike Stone casually strode across the street, making his way towards the building that housed Steve Keller's office on the Berkeley campus. Steve had invited both him and Dan to join him for a late lunch on campus if they were free, it had been months since they had all had a chance to sit down together for any length of time, all three of them at once. Dan and Steve had of course seen each other a few times. Steve had checked on Dan after he'd been shot during the Lawson case, plus the two had gone to a few movies, dinner a few times. Mike and Steve had made a few ball games together, had managed to get together for lunch before a time or two, but every time all three of them had tried to schedule something together it had never quite worked out. Today finally everyone's schedules seemed to be falling into place and the long overdue "Old Man and His Boys" lunch, as Norm had jokingly called it the day before when Steve had called to schedule, was finally going to happen.

The detectives had arrived separately due to Dan being scheduled to testify in court that morning, and Mike had a few witness interviews to conduct on his own as a result. Dan's testimony was rather straightforward and wasn't expected to take long or require him to stay past morning, the DA had been satisfied that the case was very cut and dry, a complete lock. Mike parked the tan LTD behind Dan's Bronco, a bit surprised that his partner had finished up at court early enough to beat him to the campus even with the case expected to be so easy. _Someone must have struck a deal,_ he thought, a smile playing at his lips. _With Dan's testimony and the evidence both being rock-solid, that was probably a smart move for the defense, with the time that thug was facing._

Mike smiled broadly at Steve's secretary, who told him that Steve and Dan were waiting for him in Steve's temporary office. Tipping his hat to the attractive young woman, he made his way to the door with Steve's name on it. "Professor Keller," Mike chuckled to himself. "Secretary and everything, you've certainly got it made now, don't you Buddy-boy? They're even fixing up your permanent office, getting it just right for you. Nice setup you've gotten yourself here."

Of course, Steve's office wasn't the only room in the building being renovated. His former partner had told him a couple of weeks earlier about how nearly half of the building seemed to be getting fresh coats of paint, rooms reconfigured, repairs being made, and some rooms being combined together to make all-new rooms with new purposes. Such would be the fate of Steve's temporary office once he was back to his permanent office; it was going to be combined with the room next to it.

As Mike neared the office, he thought he could smell strong chemical fumes coming from the room next door. In fact, Steve had complained that very morning while talking to Mike on the phone about how careless the painters seemed to him when it came to working with the paint and paint thinner. He'd even caught one of the workers foolishly smoking a cigarette a little too near the paint thinner and had reported him a couple of days earlier. The room had an adjoining door with Steve's temporary office and no matter how much his former partner left his windows open, the paint and chemical smells still drifted into his temporary office, to the point where he didn't often use it and kept only the barest materials in there to prepare for his classes, he'd long since moved any personal pictures or other items back to his home until the renovations to his permanent office were completed.

"That should happen by the end of this week, thank goodness," Steve had said that morning over the phone. "I'm getting tired of smelling paint all of the time. I don't understand what's taking them so long in that room next to where I am right now to begin with. I know they're having to do a lot to it, they're converting it from a small meeting room to more of a lounge for the faculty and staff – heck, even the office I'm in at the moment is going to be a part of it before it's all done, though why they're doing so much painting before they tear down the wall to make this room part of it all… Well, I'm no architect or contractor, but it just all seems really strange how they're going about this, like things aren't going in the right order somehow. At least to me. I don't know. Anyway, my permanent office is getting the finishing touches and I'll be in there by the end of the week, I'll take you and Dan by it as we head out for lunch. Not the biggest office around of course, but plenty of room for me, and I know I'm looking forward to not smelling fresh paint all the time!"

Mike was nearly to Steve's office when he smelled something else – smoke. He spotted a workman heading for the room that was being worked on, a lit cigarette in his hand. _Probably the same man Steve complained about,_ he thought, about to tell the man himself that he needed to put out the cigarette, that it was dangerous to have something like that around highly flammable chemicals. But the smoke smell was too strong to simply be from the workman's cigarette, the Lieutenant realized. "What's going on?" Mike whispered to himself.

As the workman reached out open the door to the room being worked on, Mike saw smoke starting to curl up from under the door. "Don't open that!"

His warning came too late. A large explosion greeted the workman as he opened the door as what had been a smaller, slowly building fire flared and grew, open cans of paint thinner exploding, the entire room now engulfed in a fireball. The force of the blast knocked Mike down and dazed him for a few seconds. "Somebody call the fire department!" he shouted as he regained his senses, hoping the secretary had been far enough away to not be injured by the blast. He scrambled to his feet to check on the workman who had been knocked into the wall opposite of the office. The man was unconscious, but still had a pulse and was still breathing. "Get him out of here!" Mike ordered a couple of men who had run up, both of them in overalls identical to what the workman was wearing. "Somebody find a fire extinguisher! Evacuate the building, help anyone injured!"

Several people were making their way out of their offices now, none seeming to be injured, all helping each other find their way to the closest exits. Mike was grateful that they were on the first floor; people would be able to quickly escape the fire. An alarm was ringing now, and he just barely heard someone say something about the sprinklers weren't working, that they hadn't been fixed yet. _Just what we need,_ Mike thought. "Everyone out now! Quickly and calmly get to the exits!"

Mike scanned the crowd moving out in a fairly orderly fashion. Where were Steve and Dan? Mike could feel his stomach knotting as he turned to look at Steve's office again. The door to the office was still closed, although the glass in the door had been completely shattered by the force of the blast. "Steve! Dan! Where are you?" he shouted, tying a handkerchief around his face to filter the smoke as much as possible, smoke that was getting thicker as the flames gained purchase with so much easily combustible material available to fuel the flames.

Mike shoved the blast-damaged door open, his heart immediately sinking at the sight before him. Books and papers were strewn about the room, the blast from the explosion having blown the door leading to the room next to it off of its hinges. Steve's desk was overturned, Dan's body hanging limply over it. "Dan!" Mike shouted, making his way to his partner. Quickly he felt for a pulse, scanning the room for Steve. _Thank God!_ he thought as he found a steady beat under his fingers. "Steve!" he shouted, and then coughed, the smoke becoming thicker in the office as the flames crawled across the floor, dancing from book to paper to another book, and quickly starting to lick their way across the ceiling. An unrecognizable can had been blown into the room, paint thinner Mike guessed, and what liquid that had been in it was providing an easy trail for the flames to follow into the room. "Steve!" he shouted again, hoping for an answer from his missing friend as he lifted Dan's body off of the desk, relieved and scared at the same time as the movement brought a pained groan from his partner.

"Desk…" came Dan's barely audible moan. "Steve…"

Anything else his partner might have said was lost in a sharp cry of pain as Mike laid his partner down on the floor, too late realizing that Dan's right arm was badly injured, likely broken. "I'm sorry Daniel," Mike said as Dan's eyes opened finally.

"Steve…" the young man moaned. "Behind desk… Help him…"

A breeze from the open windows in the office blew flaming papers on to Dan's left arm then, quickly singeing his blazer and threatening to burn the injured young man. Mike hastily knocked the papers off of the dark-haired man, quickly patting his arm to make sure his sleeve didn't catch fire. "I have to get you out of here Dan!"

Dan struggled to sit up, pulling on Mike with his good arm. "Never mind me," he groaned. "Steve! Help Steve!"

Mike anxiously looked between his partner and the overturned desk, the need to save both friends threatening to overwhelm him. He pulled Dan to his feet and steadied him, and with Dan seeming to be able to stand on his own and hopefully walk, he made a decision he prayed he wouldn't regret. "Can you make it out on your own?" Dan slowly nodded, which didn't reassure Mike as much as he wanted it to. "Are you sure, Daniel?" A more certain nod, followed by a coughing fit sealed things. Dan may be able to get out under his own power, but he still needed some help. "I'll get you out the door and into the hallway, then you feel your way along the wall to the emergency exit at the end of the hallway, understand?"

"Steve…" Dan started to protest, attempting to turn towards the desk, coughing even more.

"I'll get Steve!" Mike cut him off, putting Dan's good arm around his shoulders and wrapping an arm around the young man's waist, quickly guiding him out of the burning office and into the relative safety of the hallway. "Make for the exit!" he instructed firmly, helping Dan lean against the wall and pointing towards the emergency exit. Mike studied his partner for a second, worry freezing him in place. He noticed the blood on the right side of the young man's head now, flowing from a wound to the temple. Dan's breathing seemed pained, and while it was hard to tell in the smoke, Mike was sure he was too pale. The need to save his partner and the need to save his former partner warred with each other – both of these men were dear to him, the sons he had never had, and he couldn't bear it if he lost either one of them.

But just standing there wasn't going to save them, and if Steve had any chance at all of coming out of the fire alive, Mike would have to trust Dan's assurance that he could walk. "Feel your way down the hallway, get to the exit, Dan! Hurry! I'll get Steve and meet you outside!"

Mike rushed back to the office, praying Dan had listened to him, had been able to understand him. The smoke was getting thicker, and the fire was growing rapidly. _Dan said Steve was behind the desk – please be okay, Buddy-boy,_ Mike frantically thought. The Lieutenant found his way to the desk and started searching, where was Steve?

A low moan cut through the roar and crackle of the flames. Lying on the floor, unmoving, was a figure covered in charred paper and fallen books. "Steve!" Mike exclaimed, quickly tossing the debris off of him. Feeling for a pulse, Mike felt like his own heart was stopping. "Don't you do this to me!" he warned the unconscious man. He had heard him moan, hadn't he?

Thump. Thump. Thump. "Thank God!" Mike breathed as he felt the steady beat under his fingers at long last. Mike started to shove the desk off of his friend when he felt someone else already tugging at it. Together, they quickly freed Steve, and Mike started to quickly pull his former partner to his feet, intending to put him into a fireman's carry.

"Watch his leg," a weak voice coughed. "Looks broken."

"Dan! I told you to get out of here!"

A fit of coughing greeted Mike's ears as Dan grabbed Mike's sleeve with his good hand and started to guide the older detective to the doorway. "Gotta get Steve out," he managed.

Mike frowned, worried at the risk Dan had taken, but his heart surged with pride at the same time. "Don't let go of me, I'm not leaving either one of you behind, understand?"

A nod was the only answer Dan gave as the trio made the doorway, and then started down the hallway as quickly as they could. Mike soon was the one in the lead, Dan still holding his sleeve, then the back of Mike's trench coat as they made their way to the emergency exit. "Just a little further, we're almost out!" Mike shouted, hoping Dan could still hear him. There was so much noise now between the roar of the flames, voices outside all blurred together in a chorus of concern, sirens of approaching fire and rescue vehicles, his and Dan's own coughing from the choking smoke.

Then at last, blessed relief as Mike leaned against the exit and stumbled out into the fresh air and bright sunshine. "Watch his leg, it might be broken!" he commanded as a few students rushed forward to help with Steve. "Dan, we made it, let's get you beside Steve – Dan? Dan!"

But his partner was nowhere to be found. "Dan!" Mike shouted again, and then charged back to the exit. Dan still had to be in the building! _He was holding on to my coat, when did I lose him? No, not after all of this, I'm not losing him!_

"Sir, you can't go back in there, it's too dangerous, the fire is spreading too fast!" a student protested, trying to pull Mike away from the building.

"My partner is in there!" Mike said, throwing the young man off with a strength that surprised the college student. Mike ran into the building and scanned the hallway; Dan had to be in there somewhere, didn't he? Mike coughed, wishing desperately that the smoke wasn't so thick. He felt his way along the same wall he had leaned against while carrying Steve, Dan had to be there somewhere.

Then his knee thudded against a form crawling along the floor. "Dan!" Mike quickly knelt by his partner, who had been crawling on his knees, his good hand on the wall, his broken arm dangling limply by his side. "I've got you, come on!" Mike hauled Dan to his feet just as the injured man lost consciousness, putting him in the same fireman's carry he'd had Steve in just moments before. He rushed for the door, feeling the heat of the fire chasing him and his partner to the exit. Then once again, he felt the welcome kiss of fresh air and sunshine. Coughing, he reluctantly allowed the students who were assisting the injured to take Dan from him. "Put him with Professor Keller!" he barked out between coughs, allowing another student to guide him over to Steve.

Paramedics were on the scene, two of them already working on Steve, an oxygen mask on the former detective's face, his left leg already immobilized. Two more paramedics were putting a mask on Dan and checking his right arm, and both young men were being treated for their head injuries, which Mike could only now see that Steve had blood trailing down the left side of his face, coming from a wound to his left temple. A fireman pressed an oxygen mask to Mike's face and the Lieutenant gratefully breathed in. _Please let my boys be okay,_ Mike sent his silent prayer skyward. _I can't lose either of them._

For the longest time neither young man showed any signs of regaining consciousness. Mike had long since abandoned the mask he'd been given and sat as close as possible to his young friends, his hands itching to touch them, assure himself that they were still as much alive as they had been when he'd first started his rescue. "C'mon, Steve," he implored, reaching out to touch Steve's right ankle, hoping the man's right leg wasn't injured like his left leg. "Wake up, Daniel!" Mike urged, leaning over to tug at his partner's pants leg. "Don't you boys scare me like this, wake up you two!"

Finally, Steve began to move his head a bit and Mike could see his eyes slowly open. The detective scrambled to a spot between his two friends and took Steve's right hand into his, patting it. "That's it Buddy-boy, wake up for me."

Coughing was his reply. "You know, I've never really liked… that nickname… too much."

Mike laughed in relief. "How about I just call you 'Professor' then, eh?"

Steve gave a wan smile. Even though he still didn't look good under all of the ash and soot, Mike thought he was already looking better, that some of the color was starting to creep back into his face. "I'll take 'Professor'," Steve nodded, then succumbed to another coughing fit. "Where's Dan?" he asked once it was over, struggling to sit up. "Did you get Dan out? He was in the office…" he started, stopping as Mike and one of the paramedics gently pressed him back down to the ground.

"Dan's right here beside me," Mike assured him, scooting back a little so that Steve could see their friend. Mike reached over and took Dan's left hand in his, giving it an encouraging squeeze, willing his partner to wake up. "He wouldn't leave the building without you."

"He spotted… the smoke," Steve started. "I was reaching for the phone to call for help. I think I heard you yell, and then everything is a blank."

"Don't try to talk for a while," Mike instructed, worried that while Steve was talking more, his voice was getting weaker from the use. "Save your strength." But he kept his gaze focused on Dan. Had he made the right choice by not getting Dan outside first, then going back to find Steve? He should have known that his young partner wasn't going to leave without Steve as long as he could still move himself.

"Dan?" Steve watched his friend, worried even more now. "How bad?"

"I think his right arm is broken. Both of you took nasty hits to the head," Mike replied. "He wouldn't leave without you, I told him to feel his way along the hallway, but he came back to help."

"Can't leave…" came a weak, but familiar voice. "Can't leave friends behind."

"Dan!" Mike shouted in relief as his partner's eyes finally opened. "Don't scare me like this again, do you understand young man? Next time I tell you to get out of a burning building, get out!"

Dan gave a weak grin, looking over at his partner, then Steve. "Yes sir."

Steve chuckled, then coughed, a coughing fit soon overtaking Dan as well. But both young men were smiling now, and Mike was certain that both were starting to look better. "Trouble twins, the both of you!" he declared, his stern tone not matching the open smile on his face. "I should lock the both of you up for a few days for your own good! No, for my own good – don't either of you scare me like this again, do you understand?"

Both young men glanced at each other and grinned. "Yes sir," they replied, more or less in unison.

Mike rolled his eyes. "What have I told the two of you about this? This is the San Francisco Police Department, there are no, 'Yes sirs,' or 'No sirs,' and – "

"And don't speak unless I tell you to," Dan chuckled.

"He fusses because he cares," Steve added. "And I'm not a cop anymore, remember, Mike?"

"Mother hen, that's Mike."

"All right you two, I think you need to breathe in that oxygen a bit more deeply, you're both getting delusional now," Mike warned them both, but grinning the entire time. "And don't say, 'Yes sir!'"

Mike stayed there between the young men, never letting go of their hands until it was time to transfer them to the stretchers and rush them off to the hospital. Because of smoke inhalation and a few minor cuts and bruises, plus a rapidly purpling spot on his own forehead that needed to be checked out, Mike was put into the ambulance with his friends as well, although he merely sat in the ambulance. Painkillers lulled Dan and Steve back into unconsciousness, but their breathing was easier, their color was definitely better, and both men would be just fine, it would merely take a few weeks for Dan's arm and Steve's leg to heal, along with whatever other injuries they had suffered. Mike whispered a soft prayer of thanks that he hadn't lost either young man to the fire. One of his nightmares had always been that he would not be able to save those he loved if more than one of them was hurt at the same time, and because of one man's carelessness, that nightmare had nearly come true.

"Trouble twins," he said softly to no one in particular in the ambulance, a smile playing at his lips. _But they're *my* trouble twins. My boys. And they're going to be just fine._ Mike chuckled to himself as he realized he would soon have to save both Steve and Dan from another perilous fate – Jeannie's worry once she found out what had happened.

But somehow, he felt pretty certain that both of his boys wouldn't mind that too much.


End file.
